Log in

View Full Version : Cracking fruit on dwarf namwah


dchapman
07-08-2013, 08:59 PM
Greetings friends!

I have had great success with my dwarf namwah plants. The plants are big and beautiful and produce delicious fruit. The only problem is the fruit, just before they turn yellow, begin to crack. The skin splits the length of the fruit which leads to a variety of issues. Am I harvesting too late? It it a nutrient issue? Any ideas?

Thank you!

Nicolas Naranja
07-08-2013, 09:48 PM
Greetings friends!

I have had great success with my dwarf namwah plants. The plants are big and beautiful and produce delicious fruit. The only problem is the fruit, just before they turn yellow, begin to crack. The skin splits the length of the fruit which leads to a variety of issues. Am I harvesting too late? It it a nutrient issue? Any ideas?

Thank you!
try harvesting based on fruit diameter. 35mm is what I used to use. Usually splitting has something to do with humidity and soil moisture.

dchapman
07-09-2013, 10:34 AM
Thank you, I appreciate it. I was reading this (http://www.haifa-group.com/files/Guides/Banana.pdf) and it said fruit splitting could also be due to calcium deficiency.

Darkman
07-10-2013, 09:23 AM
try harvesting based on fruit diameter. 35mm is what I used to use. Usually splitting has something to do with humidity and soil moisture.

35mm = 1 3/8"

Does that mean that you harvest everything green amd ripen off the P-stem?

If so is this because you sell yours?

venturabananas
07-13-2013, 07:01 PM
Mine do the same -- several different varieties. They still taste great. As Nick suggests, harvest them when they've filled out but before they are yellow with split peels.

PR-Giants
07-15-2013, 03:30 PM
try harvesting based on fruit diameter. 35mm is what I used to use. Usually splitting has something to do with humidity and soil moisture.


35mm = 1 3/8"

Does that mean that you harvest everything green amd ripen off the P-stem?

If so is this because you sell yours?

35mm seems really skinny for a Dwarf Namwah.


Mine do the same -- several different varieties. They still taste great. As Nick suggests, harvest them when they've filled out but before they are yellow with split peels.

Mark, did you measure your fruit, were they that skinny, and green or yellow when they split?

venturabananas
07-15-2013, 03:47 PM
Mark, did you measure your fruit, were they that skinny, and green or yellow when they split?

They were very chubby, like these, and they would split when still green if left on the plant.
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=53084&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=53084&ppuser=7760&sl=v)

PR-Giants
07-15-2013, 04:26 PM
They were very chubby, like these, and they would split when still green if left on the plant.
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=53084&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=53084&ppuser=7760&sl=v)

Thanks Mark,

A measurement would be better but the photo shows good proportion.

My fruit are not even close to being as full as yours, but they're more than double the 35mm size
mentioned above. That also takes in account the calcium deficiency and that 3 huge, 7' - 10' pups
were removed shortly after it bloomed.

FYI, 35mm is skinnier than a SM Cavendish..

Nicolas Naranja
07-15-2013, 07:31 PM
Keith are you measuring diameter or circumference? I measure the top middle finger of the third hand. I measure in the middle of the finger. Other growers are in the same ballpark.

Nicolas Naranja
07-15-2013, 07:33 PM
35mm = 1 3/8"

Does that mean that you harvest everything green amd ripen off the P-stem?

If so is this because you sell yours?

If I let them ripen on the plant, bugs and varmits would carry them away. I cut them full and hang them like convicts

PR-Giants
07-15-2013, 09:35 PM
Keith are you measuring diameter or circumference? I measure the top middle finger of the third hand. I measure in the middle of the finger. Other growers are in the same ballpark.

If your talking a 35mm circumference, then you're just growing banana peels.

A DN should be fat like in Mark's photo.

I think you're getting something confused, but 35mm can't be correct.

The average finger in the third hand of a Dwarf Cav is 37mm, ninth hand is 33mm, and a DN should be thicker than a Cav.

Nicolas Naranja
07-16-2013, 12:13 PM
TARS reports 33.7 mm for the 3rd hand finger diameter of the closely relayed pisang awak. That number seems very reasonable to me given the 1000+ bunches I have harvested of dwarf namwah. I've had 42 mm, but that was huge. I'll buy some fruit from the store an take pictures of how I measure.

venturabananas
07-16-2013, 01:14 PM
TARS reports 33.7 mm for the 3rd hand finger diameter of the closely relayed pisang awak. That number seems very reasonable to me given the 1000+ bunches I have harvested of dwarf namwah. I've had 42 mm, but that was huge. I'll buy some fruit from the store an take pictures of how I measure.

I agree with you Nick. I just did some measuring of bananas around the yard and also estimated the diameter of those in my photo based on the diameter of my fingers. The ones in the photo are around 40 mm diameter, and they were the biggest Dwarf Namwah, or more generally Pisang Awak subgroup, bananas I've seen. That agrees with your 42 mm as the biggest you've grown. Around the my yard, 35 mm seems pretty standard for Dwarf Namwah, "Ice Cream Namwah", and "Misi Luki Namwah". About the same diameter to slightly larger than a well-filled out Cavendish is what healthy looking ones end up around here. Keith seems to be good at growing really big bananas, so maybe he will set new records for DN.

Nicolas Naranja
07-16-2013, 01:29 PM
I think that keith's system works to make excellent sized bananas that the rest of us could only wish for. All I can speak for is what is commercially acceptable in Florida.

PR-Giants
07-16-2013, 03:11 PM
TARS reports 33.7 mm for the 3rd hand finger diameter of the closely relayed pisang awak. That number seems very reasonable to me given the 1000+ bunches I have harvested of dwarf namwah. I've had 42 mm, but that was huge. I'll buy some fruit from the store an take pictures of how I measure.

Center fruit of the third hand were between 48-50mm.

They were very chubby, like these, and they would split when still green if left on the plant.
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=53084&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=53084&ppuser=7760&sl=v)

Mark's fruit appear much fatter, but it's difficult to be sure.

jul 16 - Center fruit bottom of first hand 50mm - 7 oz
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=53714 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=53714)

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=53715 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=53715)

venturabananas
07-16-2013, 04:27 PM
Those are some PR giants! The biggest ones of mine were 144 g, a bit over 5 ounces, and they were the biggest I've seen.

Nicolas Naranja
07-16-2013, 07:25 PM
$0.90/lbs wholesale. Grow lots of them and put everyone in Florida to shame. You don't even have the thrips scars that are common here.

venturabananas
07-21-2013, 01:01 AM
More cracking peels on Dwarf Namwah:

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=53766&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=53766)

Darkman
07-21-2013, 08:02 AM
I had that problem on the lower hands of Goldfinger. The upper hands did not crack. They certainly could not be sold commercialy but for just grabbing a snack in the yard it worked out OK. I know I lost 40% of them to cracking.

sunfish
07-21-2013, 08:40 AM
Cracking

venturabananas
07-21-2013, 10:27 AM
... I know I lost 40% of them to cracking.

As long as I harvest the cracked ones as soon as they crack, they still ripen fine and don't rot.

momoese
07-21-2013, 02:31 PM
As long as I harvest the cracked ones as soon as they crack, they still ripen fine and don't rot.

Same here. I remove the peel and slice away the dry area where the crack exposed the flesh. No difference in taste or texture.

PR-Giants
08-01-2013, 09:38 PM
TARS reports 33.7 mm for the 3rd hand finger diameter of the closely relayed pisang awak. That number seems very reasonable to me given the 1000+ bunches I have harvested of dwarf namwah. I've had 42 mm, but that was huge.

I agree with you Nick. I just did some measuring of bananas around the yard and also estimated the diameter of those in my photo based on the diameter of my fingers. The ones in the photo are around 40 mm diameter, and they were the biggest Dwarf Namwah, or more generally Pisang Awak subgroup, bananas I've seen.

Thanks for the extra info Mark, if your 40 mm estimate is close to accurate and then take into account the 5 mm or more of shrinkage for that stage of ripeness, your fruit would have been over 45 mm. The peel alone will shrink over 2 mm.

It seems that a Namwah can grow close to a normal size in California and that the problem might just be isolated to Florida growers.


53 mm
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=53926 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=53926)

Even though the Namwah and Pisang Awak are closely related and both in the Pisang Awak subgroup, I believe both of you are incorrect trying to use the fruit dimensions as being interchangeable.

Fougamou is the local name for Namwah
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=53925 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=53925&ppuser=12081)

Pisang Awak
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=53924 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=53924&ppuser=12081)